Legislation Introduction Thread

[MasterJedi]

Ebowed is correct, it's gone.

[Ebowed]

In accordance with the recent amendment to the OPSR, the Deregistration Bill has been moved to the fifth "forum affairs/emergency legislation" slot, allowing another bill to reach the floor.

[MasterJedi]

In accordance with the recent amendment to the OPSR, the Deregistration Bill has been moved to the fifth "forum affairs/emergency legislation" slot, allowing another bill to reach the floor.

Actually I believe only I can do that, since you already did it I'll allow it to stand because it'll be off the floor by around noon CST.

[CheeseWhiz]

Secretary of Forum Affairs Separation of Duties Bill

1. Article VIII, Section 2, Clause 2 shall be amended to read:

"The Secretary of the Department of Forum Affairs shall be responsible for administering all elections to the Presidency and the Senate, and the Deputy Secretary shall be responsible for maintaining the voter rolls."

2. Section 1 will take effect next Presidential term.


How's that?

[MasterJedi]

Secretary of Forum Affairs Separation of Duties Bill

1. Article VIII, Section 2, Clause 2 shall be amended to read:

"The Secretary of the Department of Forum Affairs shall be responsible for administering all elections to the Presidency and the Senate, and the Deputy Secretary shall be responsible for maintaining the voter rolls."

2. Section 1 will take effect next Presidential term.


How's that?

I think I'll go with this instead of what Joe is doing, it cuts down on an extra position.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

National Sin Tax

A 2% sales tax is to be charged on the following items and any products derived from them:

Alcohol, Tobacco, Pornography

There shall be exceptions for any recognised and legitimate uses of alcohol or products derived from alcohol.

[The Dowager Mod]

(1)The sentence of any person convicted of a capital felony and sentenced prior to the effective date of this bill to a sentence of death is commuted to a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of release.
(2)The maximum term of an indeterminate sentence shall be fixed by the court and specified in the sentence as follows: (1) For a class A felony, life imprisonment; (2) for a class B felony, a term not to exceed twenty years; (3) for a class C felony, a term not to exceed ten years; (4) for a class D felony, a term not to exceed five years; (5) for an unclassified felony, a term in accordance with the sentence specified in the section of the general statutes that defines the crime; and (6) for a capital felony life imprisonment Without the possibility of parole.
(3)No person shall be put to plea or held to trial for any crime the punishment of which may be life imprisonment or life imprisonment without the possibility of release, unless an indictment has been found against such person for such crime by a grand jury legally impaneled and sworn, and no bill shall be presented by any grand jury unless at least twelve of the jurors agree to it.
(4)In any criminal prosecution in which the defendant has been sentenced to death and has taken an appeal to the Supreme Court of Atlasia or brought a writ of error, writ of certiorari or petition for a new trial, the taking of the appeal, the making of the application for a writ of certiorari or the return into court of the writ of error or petition for a new trial shall, unless, upon application by the attorney general and after hearing, the Supreme Court otherwise orders, stay the execution of the death penalty until the clerk of the court where the trial was had has received notification of the termination of any such proceeding by decision or otherwise, and for thirty days thereafter.

[Frodo]

(1)The sentence of any person convicted of a capital felony and sentenced prior to the effective date of this bill to a sentence of death is commuted to a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of release.
(2)The maximum term of an indeterminate sentence shall be fixed by the court and specified in the sentence as follows: (1) For a class A felony, life imprisonment; (2) for a class B felony, a term not to exceed twenty years; (3) for a class C felony, a term not to exceed ten years; (4) for a class D felony, a term not to exceed five years; (5) for an unclassified felony, a term in accordance with the sentence specified in the section of the general statutes that defines the crime; and (6) for a capital felony life imprisonment Without the possibility of parole.
(3)No person shall be put to plea or held to trial for any crime the punishment of which may be life imprisonment or life imprisonment without the possibility of release, unless an indictment has been found against such person for such crime by a grand jury legally impaneled and sworn, and no bill shall be presented by any grand jury unless at least twelve of the jurors agree to it.
(4)In any criminal prosecution in which the defendant has been sentenced to death and has taken an appeal to the Supreme Court of Atlasia or brought a writ of error, writ of certiorari or petition for a new trial, the taking of the appeal, the making of the application for a writ of certiorari or the return into court of the writ of error or petition for a new trial shall, unless, upon application by the attorney general and after hearing, the Supreme Court otherwise orders, stay the execution of the death penalty until the clerk of the court where the trial was had has received notification of the termination of any such proceeding by decision or otherwise, and for thirty days thereafter.

Assuming that the regions and the federal government operate their own prison systems (drawing on the US model), is this strictly for federal prisoners on death row, or does this also extend to those at the regional level as well? 

[CheeseWhiz]

Assuming that the regions and the federal government operate their own prison systems (drawing on the US model), is this strictly for federal prisoners on death row, or does this also extend to those at the regional level as well?

Yes, I was wondering the same thing.  I definitely support this if it is the former, and strongly oppose the latter.

[The Dowager Mod]

Federal crimes

[Frodo]

Federal crimes

Then can you add a clause or section to your bill specifying exactly that -that this bill only affects those death row in-mates held in federal prisons, and will not infringe upon the prerogatives of the regions?

[Emsworth]

I believe that the death penalty has already been abolished at the federal level.

[MasterJedi]

Elimination of Selective Service & Conscription Act

1. The Selective Service is hereby eliminated.
2. No Atlasian citizen shall be involuntarily required to join the Atlasian Military.


I'm introducing this for three people, though I don't support it I'll let it get its time.

[Jake]

I believe that the death penalty has already been abolished at the federal level.

Indeed. I remember Hugh did it back in summer '04.

[DanielX]

Palestinian Authority Aid Elimination Act

1. No money or supplies paid for by the government of Atlasia shall reach the Palestinian Authority.
2. This does not affect private aid organizations, so long as their aid does not provide assistance to terrorist organizations.

[Jake]

Palestinian Authority Aid Elimination Act

1. No money or supplies paid for by the government of Atlasia shall reach the Palestinian Authority.
2. This does not affect private aid organizations, so long as their aid does not provide assistance to terrorist organizations.

I fully support this act.

[MasterJedi]

Forgot about this:

Does anybody want to sponsor Al's Sin Tax bill? I'll leave this open for awhile.

[Ebowed]

The Palestinian Authority Aid Elimination Bill and The Office of Personnell Management Reduction Bill also need new sponsors.

[MasterJedi]

The Palestinian Authority Aid Elimination Bill and The Office of Personnell Management Reduction Bill also need new sponsors.

I guess I'll sponsor The Office of Personnell Management Reduction Bill.

[Jake]

The Palestinian Authority Aid Elimination Bill needs new sponsors.

I'll sponsor it.

[Peter]

I hereby adopt Al's National Sin Tax Bill. I will amend it once it reaches the floor.
State and Defense Merger Bill
   1. The Department of State and Department of Defense are hereby merged to form the Department of State and Defense.
   2. The principal officer of the Department of State and Defense shall be the Secretary for State and Defense.
   3. All previous duties that have fallen on either the Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense will now fall on the Secretary of State and Defense.
   4. The Secretary of State and Defense shall occupy the position in the Presidential Line of Succession, as defined by the Line of Succession Act (F.L. 6-5), presently occupied by the Secretary of Defense and Forum Security.
   5. This Act amends Article VIII, Section 2 of the Federal Constitution as is necessary to implement its provisions.
   6. This Act shall take effect on 3 March, 2006.

Election Time Constitutional Amendment

All elections to the Presidency and the Senate mandated under this Constitution shall begin at 1800 Eastern Standard Time on the Thursday before the second to last Friday of the month in which they are scheduled to take place, and conclude exactly 72 hours later, except in the month of December, when elections shall begin at 1800 Eastern Standard Time on the second Thursday of the month and conclude exactly 72 hours later.

Dean of the Senate OSPR Amendment
Section 1
A new Clause 3 is added to Article 1, Section 2, reading as:

The Dean of the Senate is defined as the serving Senator, who is not the President Pro-Tempore, with the longest continuous service in the Senate in his or her present stint of service. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service begins at the moment of swearing-in in the first term of the stint of service.

Section 2
Article 2, Section 3 is hereby struck, and replaced with the following:

Section 3: Absence or Vacancy of both the President of the Senate and the President Pro-Tempore
1. If:
    i.The Presidency of the Senate is vacant and there is no PPT in office or,
    ii.One of these offices is vacant and the other office holder has been inactive for five or more days or has a declared absence or,
    iii.Both of these office holders have been inactive for five or more days or have declared absences,
Then the Dean of the Senate shall be the Presiding Officer of the Senate, possessing all of the powers and prerogatives of the PPT.

2. Limits placed on individual Senators serving as PPT by this OSPR for prior service as PPT do not limit any Senator from Presiding over the Senate in their capacity as Dean of the Senate.
If anybody has comments/improvements/otherwise before any of these bills reach the floor, please make these known to me either in the comment thread, or via PM, or osmosis.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

With only a limited time before the end of the session, I'm only going to introduce for now those measures that I have prepared that I think should prove relatively uncontroversial.

Roll Out The Barrel Act

§ 1. It is the sense of the Senate that the commerce of Atlasia would be improved if the current various legal definitions of the unit of measure known as the “barrel” which differ depending upon the product being sold were simplified to a single unit of general application to all items of commerce.  Further, it is the sense of Congress that since the barrel which is most commonly used in commerce is the petroleum barrel of 42 gallons that the term “barrel” under the laws of Atlasia should be standardized to that unit.

§ 2. The Acts of Aug. 3, 1912 (referring to apples), Mar. 4, 1915 (referring to general dry goods sold by volume), and Aug. 27, 1916 (referring to limes) which collectively are known as the “Standard Barrel Acts” are hereby repealed two years after the date of enactment of this Act.

§ 3. The term “barrel” as a unit of liquid volume means 42 liquid gallons.

§ 4. Each Federal agency shall no later than three months after the date of enactment of this Act identify all regulations issued by that agency referring to the measures defined in the Standard Barrel Acts and any other usage of a unit of measure known as a barrel which is not consistent with the measure defined in section 3 in a report to be issued to the Secretary of the Treasury who shall compile said reports into a single report to be issued to the President and the Senate no later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act.  No later than 9 months after the date of enactment of this Act, any agency which has identified such regulations shall propose revisions for said regulations which shall eliminate the usage of said measures.  Such regulations shall come into force no later than 21 months after the date of enactment of this Act.

§ 5. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to render invalid or unenforceable under the laws of Atlasia those contracts  which refer to any of the measures defined under the Standard Barrel Acts or under the regulations caused to be revised by section 4, provided said contracts were either entered into before the effective date of section 2 or explictly define the barrel as some other unit of measure.


Diplomatic Initiative for Regional East Caribbean Trade Act (DIRECT Act)

§1. Findings
(a) The Organization of East Caribbean States (OECS), consisting of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, is a collection of nine small democratic island nations that have a common currency and judicial system.
(b) Because of their small size, it has been traditional for Atlasia to handle relations with these states by our Ambassador to Barbados, in part because of Barbados proximity to the OECS states, but also because Barbados was the seat of a number of bodies of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) of which the OECS states are all members.
(c) With the designation of Liliendaal, Guyana as the site of the Caricom headquarters and Port-of-Spain, Trindad and Tobago as the site of the Caribbean Court of Justice, the bureaucratic factors that favored dealing with the OECS states via Barbados no longer apply.

§2. OECS Embassy
(a) The Secretary of State is directed to acquire, using funds already appropriated to his department, a site suitable for an embassy in Castries, Saint Lucia where the secretariat of the OECS is located.
(b) The Secretary is further directed to construct on said site, using funds already appropriated to his department, an embassy suitable for handling the diplomatic and consular relations of Atlasia towards the OECS states, and with sufficient space to accomodate the transfer of consular activities for Saba, Sint-Eustatius, Sint-Martin/Saint-Martin, and/or Saint-Barthélemy to the embassy at Castries as may seem proper following potential political realignments among those Dutch and French overseas possessions.
(c) The Secretary is additionally directed to promptly separate the functions of the staff of our embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados relating to our relations with the OECS states from the other functions of that staff and operate them effectively as a separate embassy, either within our current embassy in Bridgetown or in temporary accomodations in either Bridgetown or Castries until a permanent embassy in Castries can be opened.

§3. Ambassador to Saint Lucia
(a) Until such time as either a temporary or permanent embassy shall have opened in Castries, Saint Lucia, the President shall not appoint an ambassador to Saint Lucia.
(b) Our ambassador to Barbados shall remain our accredited representative to Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines until an ambassador to Saint Lucia has been nominated and confirmed by the Senate.
(b) Upon the appointment and confirmation of an ambassador to Saint Lucia, said Ambassador shall also be the accredited representative of Atlasia to Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and shall oversee our consular activites for the British possessions of Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, and Montserrat.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Override Debate Slot Amendment to the OPSR

§1. Article 3 Section 2 Clause 2 of the Official Senate Procedural Resolution is hereby amended to read as follows:
“2. There shall be six slots available for debating legislation on the Senate floor.  Of these slots, two shall be available for any purpose; two shall be available for any purpose except the debating of Amendments to the Constitution; one shall be available only for legislation that the PPT considers to be related to forum affairs or emergency legislation which can be introduced pursuant to Article 7, Section 1 of this resolution; and one shall be available for debating veto overides pursuant to Article 5, Section 3.”

§2. Article 5 Section 3 of the Official Senate Procedural Resolution is hereby amended by adding the following Clause 4:
“4. Upon a piece of legislation being vetoed by the President, if the slot reserved for debating overrides is empty, that legislation shall be moved to that slot and a new piece of legislation, if available, shall be moved into the vacated slot; but if the slot reserved for debating overrides is occupied, then debate shall take place in its current slot and it shall remain there until said debate is concluded, even if the slot reserved for debating overrides should be vacated.”
I believe most vetos will not require much discussion to enable them to be decided.  Adding a slot for overrides will enable the Senate to not be bogged down when vetos occur with legislation that is merely awaiting a second vote.  I took the opportunity to substantially revise the text of Article 3 Section 2 Clause 2, but save for adding a slot for considering overrides, it is identical in provision to the existing clause.

The proposed Article 5 Section 3 Clause 4 is intended to ensure that if multiple vetos are received, we don't get too rushed, since that indicates that we probably need to slow down and consider things more carefully.

[MasterJedi]

Department of Housing and Urban Development Reduction Bill

1. The funding under Personnel and Administration for the Department of Housing and Urban Development shall be cut by 10%.

[MasterJedi]

Public Interest Amendment

Section 1

The Senate shall have power, save where limited by other provisions of this Constitution:

   1. To protect the Public Health and commerce by making such regulations as shall be necessary for the protection of those in employment.
   2. To protect the Public Health, commerce and heritage by making such regulations as shall be necessary for the protection and preservation of natural beauty, biological diversity and other natural resources.

Section 2

 All Legislation and Judicial Rulings not inconsistent with this Amendment passed prior to the Adoption of this Amendment shall remain in full force, unless superceded by subsequent legislation or Judicial Rulings.